THE GREEN PILL
FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT
It’s the summer of ’03. I stand bare chested and bright-eyed atop a large mound made of glass fibre. Standing perpendicular to me are 9 of my contemporaries as we get ready for the Botswana Swimming Champs Butterfly 50m final. With one of the fastest qualifying times, I naturally occupy centre lane. To my left, the chief antagonist and one of the best all-round athletes in the country, Choma. A man who specialises in speed, both in the water and on land. And to my right, a nobody.
Choma has already won Gold in all other individual 50m races on the day and is certain to scoop up another in the 4x50m individual medley later on in the day. I am now the only thing that stands between him and the Grand Slam. As I steady myself to enter ‘the zone’, I take one last glance at my adversary. He looks peaceful but assured, like a peacock amongst pigeons. The time for pleasantries is over. It’s a straight dash to the wall and back, may the best man win. The official yells “ON YOUR MARKS!” then BANG!!! We’re off!
After years of competing back and forth against each other (Botswana’s a small country), I know that he has the speed advantage over me. However, my lungs are fresh unlike his after duelling in 3 other races prior. Thus, my strategy is simple. Keep pace with him until he inevitably tires and then I can kick into top gear in the final stretch. Easy, right?! As we turn at the 25m mark, we match each other stroke for stroke. With just half a lap left, I decide to kick into overdrive. Still, he remains just a yard ahead of me. Out of sheer frustration now, I try eek out every advantage I have in the last few metres. It’s a photo finish, but there’s only one clear winner. He’s done it, he’s beaten me on the touch.
My Southern Botswana team still goes on to win another successive title against the North as usual, and as a senior member of the team I can leave with pride, but that defeat sometimes still eats away at me even decades later. It’s not just the fact that I lost (shit happens), but that I deployed a sub optimal strategy that was built around my opponent’s supposed weaknesses as opposed to my own strengths. You see, I had enough lung capacity to sprint the entire race. And because of his previous races, he most probably would have burned out earlier. He certainly didn’t win with a record time. And so here I am wondering decades later, what would have happened if I had just focused on maximising my own strengths instead of worrying about his.
This is a lesson that I have since heeded in all aspects of my life including in business. When you focus and double down on your own strengths, no one can compete with you. In the wise words of Silicon Valley based entrepreneur and all-round dissident Peter Thiel, “competition is for losers.” The big winners are in their own lane working towards achieving self-mastery. Whilst pursuing and obtaining a degree in Philosophy is somewhat strange in this modern day and age, I did so to stay true to this principle. I have always believed that if you follow your innate passions and general curiosity down the rabbit hole that it takes you down, you will inevitably stumble upon a rewarding path that best aligns with your unique gifts and talents. For me personally, the ‘white rabbit’ led me to founding Green Pill Health.
FIRST PRINCIPLES THINKING
There is a perception that business is this dog-eat-dog environment in which only the strong survive. And this is fuelled by a growing societal apathy at the perceived failure of capitalism to provide equitable returns for the broader population. Rather, growing wealth inequality seems to reinforce the idea that we are ‘ruled’ by a few corporate oligarchs who continue to hoard the world’s wealth amongst themselves as the top 1% whilst the remaining 99% scrap for the rest, akin to scenes from the very timely Netflix special ‘Squid Games’. In South Africa, wealth inequality is extra pernicious as it was historically and is still somewhat systemically rooted in racism. South Africa has a youth unemployment rate of 64%, one of the highest in the world, and nobody seems to have an adequate plan to address this crisis. And to top it all off, South Africa has one of the highest levels of obesity in the world with 2/3 of women and 1/3 of men considered overweight or obese. As a result, type-2 diabetes and other metabolic related diseases kill more South Africans than any other disease apart from Tuberculosis. So how do we go about fixing these huge societal problems? Well, as any keen Philosopher will tell you, you must begin with first principles.
One of the foundational lessons one learns in classical Philosophy is to address problems from first principles. This revelation dates back as early as 400BC to ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle, but was truly popularised by 16th Century French Philosopher Rene Descartes. Descartes is best known for uttering the now famous phrase “cogito ergo sum” which translates to “I think, therefore I am.” He was trying to solve a riddle that had been puzzling him for some time. That riddle was, broadly speaking, how does one know what is real? How do we know that we are not just some form of complex software living our lives out in a simulation, or just brains in a vat being fed pre-programmed sensory stimulus by some evil genius?
In order to arrive at an answer, he decided to dispel all forms of subjective knowledge that he had previously blindly accepted to be true and began to build a framework of knowledge based only on what he could prove. In the first instance, he knew that although his sensory perceptions could potentially be subject to manipulation, there needed to at least be some being that existed that was interpreting this sensory data. Furthermore, the fact that he could doubt the validity of this sensory data proved that he was not just some passive medium of interpretation, but rather an actual sentient and conscious being. Hence the phrase, “I think, therefore I am.”
From this foundation, he went on to build other basic truths about the nature of reality, some of which have held up better than others over time. The two obvious ones are the existence of space and time. Since nothing can exist in a vacuum, there must at least be an environment in which his sensory perceptions existed. And secondly, his sensory perceptions all existed along a time continuum and so time must also be real. I don’t wish for you to have an existential breakdown at this point and so I won’t go into too much depth on the topic. Rather, the point is just to illustrate how first principles thinking works from a philosophical perspective, and how we can use it to develop a truer understanding of the world from its basic component parts. And whilst it’s epistemologically impossible to arrive at many absolute truths about the nature of reality within such a complex universe such as whether or not there is a God, Philosophy at least acts as a burning torch guiding us in the right direction as we do our best to navigate an uncertain realm.
Once Descartes had concluded that he was 1) a sentient being that existed 2) within space 3) and time, he could then begin to add other pieces of knowledge, such as the existence of light/energy. From these simple components of reality, we can begin to develop more complex branches of knowledge. So, for as long as the source of our knowledge is good and true, then whatever follows from these basic truths through logical reasoning must also be true itself. For example, all water molecules are made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. Vinegar contains 3 hydrogen atoms. Therefore, although vinegar is also a see-through liquid at room temperature, it is not water.
First principles thinking also allows us to speed-run an outcome by focusing on the absolutely necessary conditions that must exist for that outcome to occur. This type of reasoning can be applied to various aspects of life but more specifically to entrepreneurship. Business is essentially about creating value by resolving some form of societal problem in the most efficient manner possible. The degree to which your solution is efficient is borne out, at least in a capitalist framework, through profit. Thus, first principles thinking allows us to develop systems built upon the absolutely necessary conditions and components required to produce an expected positive outcome, whilst removing all excess.
KETO KART (GREEN PILL HEALTH): THE ORIGIN STORY
There are 4 types of people in this world. The eldest (in charge), the middle (deep), the youngest (wussup), and the only child (share!). I mean, we could argue about this but the science is in.
Anyways…you might’ve already noticed that I am indeed a last born. For us, the highs are high and the lows are…well, we got this! This provides us leeway to go places that others wouldn’t dare explore. To question authority and conventional wisdom when you know something just doesn’t feel right. This means asking “why” one more time when you know you’ve exceeded the point of comfort. It helps you develop a truer understanding of the world as well as get to the heart of what really matters, the truth.
I remember studying for my end of year Constitutional Law exam, quite literally the last thing I wanted to be doing at the time, when I received a haunting SMS from my mother. She had just gone for a routine Doctor’s check up and a lot of her key biomarkers (blood sugar, insulin levels, cholesterol, BMI) had come back as pre-diabetic, a frightening reality for millions of South Africans.
There I was jacked up on 3 cans of ‘Monster’ energy drink and just under 4 hours of sleep, and I still had the nerve to tell her it was because she was making poor food and lifestyle choices. That moment sat with me much longer than it should have. And it was compounded by the fact that I knew that she would most likely get some 2-page meal plan print out that demanded that she starve herself in between eating dry and bland foods like a cucumber sandwich with ‘whole wheat bread’. Something completely unsustainable long-term. Furthermore, as someone who understands the harmful affects of excess carbohydrates on our long-term health and on our short term well-being as well, it frustrated me how simple all this could be. And so we did it!
Every day the rates of obesity continue to rise and millions of people are dying from debilitating illnesses due to poor health stemming from nutrition. Type-2 diabetes is the second largest killer of South Africans only behind tuberculosis (TB) and it affects more than 450 million adults worldwide. What’s most frightening is the increasing rate of early onset diabetes among children leading to blindness, amputations and all other sorts of complications if not detected early enough. These are unnecessary issues that no child should have to grow up with, and yet sadly too many do right here in South Africa. We are riddled with an ever growing health epidemic, and reliable health advice is tough to come by. Most health advice involves torturing yourself for months on end, or you are offered some magic pill that will somehow melt away all your problems instantly!
Keto is different.
The idea of Keto Kart was borne out of the simple fundamental question: “if weight-loss was easy, what would it look like?” From this question, we then asked ourselves “what is absolutely necessary for rapid weight-loss to occur?” The answer is simple. In order for weight-loss to occur, our bodies need to be burning more calories than we consume (caloric deficit). From here we asked, “what is the most efficient method of burning calories?” This question is a lot more complex than the previous ones but thanks to the latest research in nutritional science, there is indeed a definitive answer. The answer is Keto. To understand why, you need to understand how our human biology works, again from a fundamental first principles perspective.
Our bodies are fuelled by 3 basic macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein and fat. We know that obesity is as a result of an unhealthy build-up of fat cells in our body. Thus, the primary focus of weight-loss is to burn as many stored fat cells as possible and as quickly as possible without causing any further long-term harm to our physiology. At first, it seems quite counter-intuitive then that the best method to burn fat is to predominantly eat fat, right? Until you understand why and how our basic metabolism works.
Think of the human body as a hybrid vehicle that can work on both petrol (carbs) and electricity (fat). When we eat a meal, our gut breaks down our food into its basic component parts so that the nutrients can be delivered to the target cells. Protein is predominantly used for the growth and repair of our muscle fibres. It is also broken down into enzymes that transport molecules to their target cells. Fat is used mainly to produce the various hormones that regulate our bodily functions and also to protect our cell walls. Lastly, carbs are solely used as an energy source for our cells. They are broken down into glucose which is then transported to the target cells for energy by insulin. Carbs have no other nutritional value in the body other than as a source of energy. This is an important fact to remember as they can be completely removed from our diets without negatively impacting our broader physiology unlike the other essential macronutrients.
Now, returning to our hybrid car analogy, the body by default operates by burning carbs (petrol) for energy. However, when the supply of carbs runs out, i.e. when our glycogen stores are depleted, the body is forced to switch to its secondary energy source which is fat (electricity). The Ketogenic diet performs a neat trick in that it converts the body to operating in its secondary metabolic state in which fat is being burned as the main source of energy instead of carbs. The process of switching over to burning fat is known as ketosis and it occurs when our glycogen stores are empty. So, the ketogenic diet involves consuming very little carbs so your body is forced to run on fat instead. And like electricity, fat is a much cleaner source of energy in the sense that it burns more steadily and for longer since it is more calorie dense (9 kcal/g of fat vs 4kcal/g of carbs). This means that you don’t have the same energy fluctuations that one experiences on the glucose rollercoaster as your blood sugar levels yo-yo during the course of the day. Rather your energy levels remain much more stable throughout the day. To learn more about the science behind Keto, read our previous blog posts, particularly ‘Obesity Is A Virtue.’
I often get asked, “isn’t Keto just a fad?”, or “isn’t Keto too niche for a business.” And my answer is simple. As an organisation, we are not obligated to the Keto diet itself. We do not serve a Keto God. The reason why we chose the ketogenic diet as a foundation for providing health and wellness was because it works. From a first principles examination of human biology and weight-loss, the ketogenic diet is the best and most efficient method of losing weight and this is supported by the latest cutting-edge research into nutritional science.
The great thing about science is that it is true whether you believe in it or not. You’ve never heard of a gravity denier, have you? That’s because they’re all lying face down in a pool of their own shame. And for as long as our human biology and our basic metabolic functioning remains the same, the ketogenic diet will ALWAYS be the best method to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Now is it the only way to lose weight? Of course not. The same way a Bugatti Veyron is not the only way to get to the airport. But heck, if I’m running late and I get to choose, best believe I’m hopping in the Veyron.
And so, this begs the question, if we’re not competing with other diets, then who is our competition? Well, the answer is ‘anything that is not the truth.’ In the world of health and fitness, there’s an endless supply of hacks and quacks, soothsayers, and mages, all with magical remedies and potions promising you overnight transformations. And within the medical profession itself, unfortunately vested financial interests and greed have corrupted one of the most noble professions known to man. Tragically, a large aspect of the medical field is concerned only with the treatment of ailments rather than the prevention of disease. This is best illustrated through some of the worst practices of Big Pharma.
UNPLUGGING FROM THE MATRIX (AKA. BIG PHARMA)
In 2015, Martin Shkreli became the poster-bro for the rampant greed and excess existent within the pharmaceutical industry when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the license to the distribution of Deraprim, a drug crucial to the treatment of HIV. They then proceeded to hike its price up from $13.50 a pill to $750. The case peeled back the vale on some of the perverse incentives existent within the industry, in large part because nothing that he did was illegal. In fact, most Pharmaceutical Executives would have been lauded by shareholders in this world of shareholder supremacy for drastically increasing the company’s bottom line and in turn their share price. But at what cost?
Deraprim is a drug that helps HIV patients combat the effects of respiratory illnesses that can wreak havoc on their bodies due to a weakened immune response. It is quite literally a lifesaving drug for millions of people around the world. As such, most patients will pay any price for it because, you know, what good is that retirement fund when you’re dead. Thus, Shkreli wilfully hiked up the price by more than 5 000% knowing that, for many people, it was the difference between life and death.
For most large pharmaceutical companies, the formula is simple. Develop or acquire either a high-volume drug or a patentable drug that has lifesaving properties and then hike the price up exorbitantly so as to increase profit margin. Those desperately in need are then forced to adjust accordingly and pay the piper or die. In all fairness, whilst drug companies do deserve to recoup the funds that they invest into the risky and time-consuming work that goes into the research and development of new drugs, there is certainly a line where fair compensation veers violently towards greed, particularly when human life is at stake.
And no consumer around the world is shielded from the price gouging tactics of Big Pharma since our health insurance companies are primarily responsible for acquiring drugs from these pharmaceutical conglomerates and they in turn pass those costs on to us, the consumer. Thus, all our individual healthcare contributions will just continue to soar so as to subsidise the rising cost of pharmaceuticals which make up on average about 30% of all healthcare expenditure per annum.
The same price gouging tactics have also been deployed in the development of treatments to prevent type-2 diabetes, including in the development and supply of insulin. This is something that particularly affects the Keto community since a large swathe of diabetics have adopted the ketogenic diet as a method of controlling their blood-sugar levels and ultimately to help reverse the harmful effects of the disease due to its proven ability to restore insulin sensitivity over time. And prices will only continue to rise as these large conglomerates go about consolidating the industry preventing all forms of competition, and as they obtain more influence and power. As Charlie Munger so eloquently stated, “show me the incentives, I’ll show you the outcomes.”
Let me be absolutely clear at this point. The fault is not with the amazing scientists who spend most of their lives toiling away in labs researching and developing lifesaving drugs after years of trial and error. These are the real heroes of modern medicine, and they deserve all the praise in the world. These are the same bright minds that developed a COVID-19 vaccine in less than 12 months through nothing short of sheer hard work and genius. Rather, the problem is with the corporate execs like Martin Shkreli who have chosen to exploit various health crises in order to maximise shareholder value.
This led to many people around the world questioning the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and brought much scepticism about the reasons for the vaccine mandate drive. As a result, many flat out refused to take the vaccine and chose rather to pursue more natural remedies instead. Distrust in Big Pharma meant that large swathes of the population were reasonably questioning if the COVID-19 lockdowns and protocols were being maliciously extended to serve the selfish financial interests of the large pharmaceutical conglomerates rather than to protect the population as a whole as initially purported. The best indicator of perverse incentives run amok comes from this quote from the former Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO Mike Pearson, “bet on Management, not on Science.” At the time, they were one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world! Go figure.
THE REBEL ALLIANCE
As a species, it is convenient for us to demonise ‘the other’. This is born out of the fact that we evolved as a tribal species living in relatively small but tightly knit bands of more or less 100 other sapiens and within very harsh and unforgiving environments. To go against the tribe meant you would most likely be excommunicated and your chances of surviving long alone in the wild were slim to none. Thus, ‘group think’ is literally a survival mechanism that almost always ensures our safety and survival. And by demonising ‘the other’, we draw up very clear tribal lines.
In a world of scarce resources, in order to accumulate enough resources to survive, Imperialists have often resorted to pillaging from other groups or tribes. And in order to justify such abhorrent behaviour to their all-seeing conscience, they have usually tried to reason that ‘the other’ is either less human or just plain evil. I would love to tell you that my childhood nemesis Choma was an arrogant prick and part reptilian, but in all honesty, he was genuinely one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Definitely a much sweeter person than I. Similarly, it’s hard for us to believe that the same Nazi soldiers that delighted in the execution of millions of Jews during the holocaust were also devoted and loving parents. And yet, most of them probably were. How’s that for cognitive dissonance.
As Steven Pinker observes in his book ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’, violent crime tends to decrease across society as we produce greater abundance for all. It tends to supress our animal-like instinct for survival that allowed us to survive amongst other predators in the plains of the Savannah like Lions, Cheetahs, Gorillas and Hyenas. Thus, it would seem quite obvious that universal healthcare along with general poverty alleviation is a prerequisite for world peace.
For all the faults of Big Pharma, they do play a crucial role to society, particularly around the development and distribution of life saving drugs. Which is why greed and exploitation from these sectors feels that much more grotesque. Any system, left without proper checks and balances, whether it be political, financial, or even familial, is subject to being corrupted. So how do we go about bringing change to these industries whilst still protecting the integrity of the medical profession itself. Well, in the wise words of ancient Greek Philosopher Socrates, “the secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
THE GREEN PILL
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are predominantly concerned with treating illness. Well, what if we could flip the script. What if we had a community driven healthcare system that focused on optimising human health and wellness instead. This perspective change is the bedrock of the Green Pill Movement.
Our mission at Green Pill Health is to make a healthy and happy lifestyle easy and accessible for all. In order to do so, we have focused on developing a platform that caters to the pillars of human health and wellbeing in a simple and efficient manner. There are 5 foundational elements to human happiness and wellbeing in general. These 5 elements are:
Eat well,
Sleep well,
Exercise,
Meditate, and
Surround yourself with amazing people.
I mean, sex is great, but have you ever lay on a beach in a daze and in the arms of a loved one after a good swim in the ocean, as you both glare out at the sunset in a meditative silence, and you gnaw away at a delicious burrito. That sounds like heaven to me. I’m sure Maslow himself would approve.
Nutrition — “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” These famous words were uttered by another ancient Greek Philosopher and the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates. Even back then, the ancients understood that much of our health is dictated by the nutrients that we consume since these are the building blocks of our cells. Thus, in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is essential to begin with the quality of the nutrients that we consume on a daily basis. As established above, the ketogenic diet is the best foundation for a healthy lifestyle, and we provide a simple and convenient method of adopting the lifestyle at scale.
Sleep — You would be surprised by just how much our circadian rhythm is dictated by our eating habits. Anyone who has ever had a large greasy meal in the middle of the day knows all about ‘the itis’. That feeling of just wanting to lie down and rest as your body digests all that goodness. We have recruited top Dietitians and Nutritionists, who will not only advise you regarding your nutrient intake, but also the timing of your meal consumption so as to maximise your overall wellbeing and to optimise your sleep patterns.
Exercise — Exercise comes in many shapes and forms. But ultimately it involves placing your body under a type of controlled physical stress for a prolonged period of time. This aids in building up resilience to and strength against other such similar stress and stimulation that you might experience in the future. Thus, anything that gets the body moving and the blood pumping can be considered a form of exercise. And it is not constrained to the gym. Our App provides a variety of options that are fun and exciting and feel more like play than exercise. The goal is to make exercise enjoyable, so you want to come back. Exercise should feel like an escape from your daily stressors instead of another one of them.
Mindfulness/Meditation — The emergence of Yoga around the world coincides perfectly with the rise in mental health awareness. The goal with Yoga is to bring about awareness between the mind and the body, thereby grounding us in the present moment. There are very few practices that bring about more peace and calm than Yoga. Which is why we have included Yoga instructors on our platform to help clients find their zen. We have also included Psychologists and Psychiatrists on our platform to help clients build up their mental health.
Community/Connection — Lastly any difficult journey should not be undertaken alone. And that includes health and fitness. Not only does our App connect clients with various health instructors and experts, but it also allows our clients to engage in these exercises with family, friends and colleagues, and in a location of your choosing. The Green Pill App allows users to connect with other like minded communities at similar stages on their journey through various classes so you never feel out of place. This includes everything from elite one-on-one combat training sessions in Boxing and MMA, all the way to group CrossFit and Pilates classes.
A RETURN TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN
These five principles have formed the backbone of the African spirit of Ubuntu for millennia. For centuries, most African communities existed in small feudal tribes in which these foundational amenities for ‘the good life’ formed the bedrock of these societies. It was only with the emergence of the agricultural revolution that man began the process of attempting to bring nature under our control. The development of farming meant that we were now able to multiply our food supply instead of just relying upon what nature had provided for us. This led to the explosion of populations as we were no longer limited by the amount of natural resources in a given region.
Sapiens could now explore different parts of the world armed with the knowledge of how to cultivate their own food. And so off we went away from the African continent and to far flung parts of the world, taming some of the harshest terrains and navigating some of the roughest seas. As population sizes continued to explode and survival remained tough, we became more creative in how we used our resources. Farming led to mining as we developed better tools for hunting and warfare. Mining then led to industry as we further refined those tools to be more effective for manufacturing, transport and communication.
Today we primates hold devises that allow us to communicate with one another instantly from the other side of the planet. We continue to develop drones, satellites and rockets that allow us to travel to different worlds and see beyond our own galaxy. Heck, with just a few clicks of a button, you can have meals delivered to your home, perfectly measured to your daily caloric requirements, and personalised to your taste for every meal of the weekday (sorry, I couldn’t help myself). The point is, we have come a long way from our early hunter-gatherer past. But the real question is, was it all worth it?
For the most part, whilst technology has brought about a lot of ease to our daily existence, it has certainly come at a cost. Obesity is at its worst levels in human history. Moreover, mental health problems and depression continue to rise across society. This begs the question, if capitalism has made life so much better for the majority of people, then why are we generally so miserable? There is an excellent Mexican parable that speaks to the reason why. It goes as follows:
An American investment banker on holiday was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “only a little while.”
The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”
The American scoffed. “I have an MBA from Harvard, and can help you,” he said. “You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middle-man, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening up your own cannery. You could control the product, processing, and distribution,” he said. “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “Oh, 15 to 20 years or so.”
“But what then?” asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time was right, you would announce an IPO, and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!”
“Millions — then what?”
The American said, “Then you could retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”
The story perfectly illustrates our primal yearning to return back to a simpler existence in which we could meet our basic human needs without having to run the gambit on the capitalist productivity-at-all-cost hamster wheel, and without equitable financial compensation or spiritual reward for our toils. A time before the agricultural revolution. To live in accordance with how our early ancestors thrived. In localised bands of tightly knit communities and amongst those that we love. As the world becomes more and more interconnected through technology, the more disenfranchised we seem to have also become. Communities exist predominantly across political plains and sporting tribes. We have become increasingly entrenched inside of our ideological bubbles instead of connecting around a common understanding of our collective humanity.
There is something deeply humanising about the fact that we all share the same basic fears and insecurities, the same joys, and pleasures, regardless of our background or affiliation. Beyoncé cares just as much about her appearance as the local store clerk does, probably even more. And Elon Musk worries about his company’s quarterly performance as much as the intern worries about pleasing their boss. My point is that there is much more that connects us as humans than sets us apart. There is a less than 0.1% variance across the DNA of all human beings. This variance most likely exists as an adaptive advantage to ensure the robustness of our species as a whole, so that no single event or virus can collapse the entire ecosystem.
Variance also ensures a diversity amongst the whole so that various members of the tribe are better suited to performing different tasks that are required for the prosperity of the group. Whilst we continue to develop our human user interface through incessant productivity, ultimately the various archetypical members of the tribe remain the same. We will always consist of warriors/hunters, gatherers/farmers, builders, explorers, mediators, sages, caretakers, teachers, healers, artists, jesters and everything in between. According to Psychologist Carl Jung, each man and woman ultimately falls within one of these archetypes. One day genomics will be able to identify the exact genetic sequences that code for the variances in personality and affinity. But until then, it is up to us as leaders to foster an enabling environment that allows the greatest number of people to flourish within their domain of expertise.
CONCLUSION
Our goal at Green Pill Health is to become the go-to platform for all of our client’s health and wellness needs. A one-stop-shop for body, mind and soul. We have been very mindful in shaping our user experience to make it as easy as possible for clients to adopt a healthy lifestyle. The idea itself was borne out of a personal frustration and so we reverse engineered the solution to resolve our own pain point from the ground up. For as long as there is disease and suffering, there will always be a place for the pharmaceutical industry. Our goal is to reduce the world’s dependence on medication by optimising for health instead, and doing so in a manner that is fun and enjoyable for all.
In my next article, I will go into depth about the new National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill being proposed by the South African parliament and set to take effect in 2026, as well as the future of personalised healthcare and nutrition in general. I will also touch on the emergence of preventive care through CRISPR technology and genomic sequencing. Until then, stay safe Ketonites.
Written by Kuda Ngulube
Co-Founder & CEO of Green Pill Health
SOURCE MATERIAL:
Textbooks:
Allen, L. and Prentice, A. (2005) Encyclopaedia of Human Nutrition. Netherlands. Elsevier.
Guyton, A. and Hall, J. (2015) Textbook of Medical Physiology. London. WB Saunders.
Kang, J. (2013) Nutrition and Metabolism in Sports, Exercise and Health. London. Routledge.
Novels:
Berg, E. (2010) The 7 Principles of Fat Burning: Get Healthy, Lose Weight and Keep It Off. Illinois. KB Publishing.
Berry, K. (2019) Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health. Nevada. Victory Belt Publishing.
Ferriss, T. (2010) The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman. New York. Harmony/Rodale.
Fung, J. (2016) The Obesity Code: The Bestselling Guide to Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss. Melbourne. Scribe Publications.
Goldacre, B. and Farley, R. (2010) Bad Science. London. Fourth Estate.
Greene, R. (2012) Mastery. London. Profile Books.
Harari, Y. (2011) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. New York. Penguin Random House.
Noakes, T. (2017) Lore of Nutrition: Challenging Conventional Dietary Beliefs. Cape Town. Penguin Random House.
Piketty, T. (2017) Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge. Harvard University Press.
Pinker, S. (2011) The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence In History And Its Causes. London. Penguin Random House.
Pollan, M. (2007) The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. London. Penguin Publishing Group.
Taubes, G. (2016) The Case Against Sugar. California. Portobello Books.
Thiel, P. (2015) Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Or how to Build the Future. London. Virgin Books
Volek, J. and Phinney, S. (2011) The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. Connecticut. Beyond Obesity LLC.
Wilson, J. and Lowery, R. (2017) The Ketogenic Bible: The Authoritative Guide to Ketosis. New York. Simon & Schuster.
Courses:
Nowicki, S. (2004) The Great Courses — Biology: The Science of Life. Duke University.
Shaw Academy (2018) — Sports & Nutrition Certification Course.
Youtube:
Explaining the Healthcare System [Dr. Oz] — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcoPRfCetw.
Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Starts With Ignoring The Guidelines | Sarah Hallberg | TEDxPurdueU — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ&t=335s.
The Green Pill — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVaVZcSYzxg.
The Nuts and Bolts of Better Brains: Harnessing the Power of Neuroplasticity — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3M8Ka9vUA.
The Remarkable Story of Roseto Shows the Power of Community — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnbPzXDco90.
The Third Industrial Revolution: A Radical New Sharing Economy — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3M8Ka9vUA.
What We Can Learn From the African Philosophy of Ubuntu — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UojwMiRpNM.